glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's monday, october 1. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thousands of japanese spent restless nights as winds rattled their windows. typhoon jelawat has went across the japanese mainland. people in more than 150,000 households woke up to find they didn't have any power. the storm killed one man in okinawa. he was fishing when a wave washed him away.

a man in central japan was trying to save his man from a swollen richb when he disappeared. 176 people have been injured. most of them either blown over by winds or hit by flying objects. the typhoon has passed over the noern coast. the center of the storm is traveling over the soeocean at about 75 kilometers. u.s. military personnel in japan are preparing to fly the osprey aircraft for diplomeploy. they will now transport them to okinawa's air station. personnel plan to deploy the tilt row tar aircraft in october. japanese officials agreed on safety measures to reassure officials with the checkered

history. pilots will avoid flying over densely populated areas. they'll also take care when tilting propellers. locals were out to protest the osprey's deployment. a group of japanese people can finally grieve at the graves of relatives who died in post-war north korea. the 16 travelers arrived in pyongyang saturday to visit the cemetery. the japanese nationals buried there died of disease or hunger when interned by the soviet military after world war ii. the group spent sunday touring pyongyang where they spent their childhood. north korean officials showed them the sites including buildings built during japan's colonial era. the travelers will visit the cemetery on monday in the capital city. about 2,400 japanese people were reportedly buried there. >> translator: i think this visit to the graves will bring some sort of relief to the relatives.

>> north korean officials have allowed japanese media to cover the trip. analysts say this could mean a thawing of relations. premier wen jiabao made the comment at a ceremony in the great hall of the people in beijing. hu jintao and others attended the event. foreign dignitaries were among the 1,000 guests. >> translator: china will pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. >> japan nationalized the senkaku islands last month. china and taiwan also claim rights. the leaders of japan and china did not exchange telegrams

to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalizization of diplomatic ties. yoshihiko noda and premier wen did not send messages on the occasion. in 2002 and 2007 the japanese and chinese leaders exchained letters to celebrate the ties. this year gemba and his chinese counterpart performed the task. a japanese foreign official says the changing custom reflects the status of ties between japan and china. many events to celebrate the anniversary were canceled or put off. many chinese are avoiding japan as part of their holiday. chinese travel agencies estimate about 345 million people will make domestic or overseas trips during that time. that's up 15% over last year.

economic growth has allowed an increasing number of chinese to make trips abroad. but many have canceled their plans to visit japan. more popular destinations this year include south korea and thailand. a 9-year-old has been killed in an explosion at a church in kenya. three other children were seriously wounded. local police stay a hand grenade was detonated while the children attended sunday school in the capital nairobi. government forces launched an investigation last october to drive out the militant group. s 17 people were killed in strikes on two churches in july. police suspect islamic extremists are involved in the latest incident.

japan is among the world's fastest aging country and its economy is struggling with deflation. aiming at retirees are among the few sectors and growth. now some companies are going one step further. >> reporter: having your portrait taken for your own funeral might be strange to some, but in japan it's part of a range of services targeting the growing population of retirees. >> translator: i want to leave behind an enhanced picture of myself. my own favorite shot. >> reporter: people over the age of 65 have increased by more than 1 million over the past year. they make up almost one quarter of the japanese population. a proportion that's steadily on the rise.

this wave of retirees was born during japan's post-war baby boom between 1947 and 1949. funeral homes, attorneys, are having an exhibition. experts provide advice on the cost of funerals, graves, and related services. this is a comic book handed out for free to all visitors. it describes how much money you need to conduct a funeral. visitors have the opportunity of lying down in a coffin. they learn about the variety of models offered by funeral homes.

>> translator: i think it would be nicer if it were a bit longer. >> reporter: also on hand to teach how to properly convey's one's wishes on a will. >> reporter: but what's prompting all these cheerful retirees to attend this kind of event? >> translator: if i can clarify now how i want my funeral to be conducted, i think i will live more positively for the rest of my life. and it's also good for my family. >> translator: baby boomers have a strong tendency to express their originality. that's why we're trying to offer a whole range of products that meet their demands. >> reporter: the popularity of

this type of event shows the eagerness of retirees to arrange their own funeral according to their own taste. and this new demand is opening a new range of business opportunities. nhk world, kowasaki. japanese electronics makers have facing slumping sales. so they're on the lookout for new customers. they turned their focus to india. the economy is growing and its people has more money to spend. but to get a foothold, they have to compete with their south korean rivals. >> reporter: a panasonic researcher walks through a neighborhood in new delhi. he's looking at the middle class. the driver of the nation's economy. >> translator: they put medicine

here. >> reporter: panasonic plans to develop products custom tailored to the needs of these consumers. but the company faces stiff competition from south korean firms. the rivalry spurs on the japanese company. ota checks out the refrigerator. >> translator: for about an hour, this ice pack stops cubes from melding during a power failure. >> reporter: more than 30% of fridges in india are made by south korean companies. they design them with india's we frequent power failures in mind. the firm is concentrating on air conditioning. until now, most of india's care conditioners have been window units. though they provide cool air, not much daylight gets in. so the japanese firm came up with this model.

a small device attaches to the wall. the rest of the unit sits outdoors. to entice customers, panasonic devised a slogan. reclaim your window. the design and the low price attracted shoppers. the percentage of air conditioners the firm sells has risen from 1% to 13%. >> translator: the number of our customers has rapidly increased. even in the countryside. >> reporter: to increase high quality conditioners, the manufacturer is building a new plant in india. managers hope to start operating this december. and produce a million units a year. >> translator: india is the only remaining large market. we're researching the market to make sure we make something that hits the right spot with india.

>> reporter: japanese tv manufacturers are also trying to make bigger contribution year. already indians buy more sonys than any other brand. the driving force behind this are the sony stores. 300 of them across india. they're strategy is not to lower the sales price. the higher price enhances the prestige of the company brand. >> definitely sony i think is the best grand existing in india right now with the technology they have come up. >> reporter: to make sony's brand even stronger, the company broadcasts on its own tv station. indians enjoy watching the sony channel. >> sony the brand is carrying on all the channels and it builds an association in the mind of the consumer as a high flt. >> translator: i'm convinced

that making products that meet the needs of indians and promoting our brand are essential to our success. >> reporter: in recent years, japanese electronic makers have been struggling worldwide. the key to regaining market share depends on how they fair in india. nhk world. the obama administration has rewarded president thein sein since he took office last year. it's starting to lift a ban on imports from myanmar following similar steps to ease restrictions on finance and investments. thein sein received the news from hillary clinton during a visit to the united states. >> reporter: to attend the u.n. general semibly. secretary of state hillary

clinton told him that the obama administration would begin easing its ban on imports from myanmar. >> in recognition of the continued progress toward reform and in response to requests from both the government and the opposition, united states is taking the next step in normalizing our commercial relationship. >> reporter: he expressed his gratitude and said the people of myanmar would be happy that economic restrictions are being eased. clinton made a point of reminding him the division of aung san suu kyi. she visited the u.s. earlier this month for the first time since her release from the house arrest in november 2010. she and clinton together gave a lecture in washington calling

for more investment in education and health care in myanmar. obama administration is expected to seek congressional approval to ease sanction while also monitoring the progress of myanmar's democratic reforms. myanmar is home to 60 million people and rich in natural resources. its strategic location in asia gives it the potential to become a trading hub. they need foreign capitals to help support. western trade restrictions have started to increase myanmar's dependence on economic aid from china. with sanctions being eased, the united states now has a chance to enhance its own economic relationship with myanmar. and also counter the spreading influence of china. nhk world. young indonesians crossing

the seas have flocked to a college fair in jakarta. about 2,000 students attended japan's event. representatives from 50 universities set up stalls. students crowded around stands from big players. >> translator: i've always enjoyed learning japanese. i want to become a translator. >> translator: i think that the fair is a good opportunity for universities in japan. because they have a mission to educate students who will be recognized by the world. >> japan education ministry researchers conducted a survey last year. they found that more than 5,500 indonesians wanted to apply for scholarships. the researchers said they found more applicants from indonesia than any other country. japanese retailers are looking to can cash in this

winter season by offering a new selection of thermal underwear. major clothing retailer is expanding its lineup of popular winter underwear to include products for toddlers. a retail chain has developed a new line of thermal underwear at a 20% discount to last year's version. stores are expecting higher demand for winter underwear as consumers plan to turn down the heat in the face of power rate hikes. >> translator: i expect consumers' energy saving consciousness will boost the sales for thermal underwear. new york city announced plans to build the world's tallest ferris wheel on staten island. it's expected to become a popular tourist attraction for panoramic views. city officials say the wheel will be 190.5 meters tall, more

than 25 meters taller than the one in singapore. passengers will take about 38 minutes to go around. the city plans to begin construction of the ride and its surrounding shopping center in 2014. the entire facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015. staten island is the least populated of new york cities boroug boroughs. the gaming industry is booming in japan driven by a rapid inside in smart phone users. but it faces a serious shortage of programmers. a maker of game software has organized a programmer contest to find talented people. among the contestants were a handful of high school students. >> reporter: 22 finalists gathered in tokyo for the contest earlier this month.

all of them are students. the total prize money is about $13,000. mori is one of three high school students who are taking part. the three are competing against undergraduate and graduate school students. mori became interested in computers when he was in elementary school. he learned how to program video game applications by reading books and online information. >> translator: in programming, whether you are in junior or senior high school doesn't matter. even one person can change the world. that's what i like about programming. >> reporter: this company organized the competition. demand for social networking games has been expanding thanks to a rapid spread of smart phones. last year the market grew to an estimated $3.6 billion. that's 2.5 times what it was in

the previous year. the fast expansion is causing a programmer shortage. software companies are putting up online help want eed ads to fill the openings. others offer to pay $230,000 a year. a fierce battle is going on in the industry to hire well qualified programmers. in the contest, the participants are asked to write programs that automatically solve a puzzle by rearranging dice. the problems are designed to test their skills to write gaming programs. murai and other contestants have to come up with ideas to solve the problems and put them into numbers and symbols to make them work. they have two hours to solve five problems. speed is a big factor. along with the accuracy and quality of the programs.

>> reporter: murai couldn't even start solving the last problem. the winner was a junior at the university of tokyo. murai came in eight but he was the top winner among the high school students. >> translator: i could have done a little better. still, it was fun. >> translator: it is becoming harder to hire good programmers. we want to hold events like this to outdo our competitors in attracting talented programmers. >> the company also plans to host similar contests in other countries to hire programmers with talent. well, we saw pictures of

people earlier in okinawa and japan being affected by a typhoon. rachel ferguson joins us now with the world weather forecast. the sound of the rain and wind pounding my windows kept me up last night, but we're seeing fair skies this morning. are we in the clear? >> well, yes and no. certainly region has abawakened nicely. however, the storm is still going to be effecting northeastern japan. yesterday the typhoon made landfall in the region. it is now a tropical storm and is located just towards the east of tohoku region. so it has moved out over the water now. it's going to be moving towards the east of hokkaido today. we're still seeing sustained winds up above a hundred kilometers an hour with gusts over 140 kilometers per hour. the storm surge combined with spring tides could bring certainly the risk of coastal

flooding. waves could be around six to eight meters for northeastern japan. and in terms of the rainfall, hokkaido is likely to see another hundred millimeters or so. certainly as we head into the day, it'll be drier across the day. another tropical expression has formed here. this one does look like it's going to be intensifying. it'll certainly be bringing heavy rain across the philippines today. then if i step out of the way to the east of the islands, yet another tropical depression. this one also looking right for intensification. by the end of the day, we could have two other tropical storms here. this to the east of the islands. heading up towards the northwest. this could be a problematic system later on in the week. elsewhere looking dry and clear across the continent. but a surge of warmth for

beijing. 27 degrees expected for the high today. here in tokyo, 30 is the expected high. meanwhile 26 in taipei as well as in chongqing. 33 in bangkok. heading to the americas, high pressure is keeping things dry and clear across the u.s. and into canada. there is going to be a system bringing in some moderate rainfall into b.c. that could turn over to mountain snow in the upper elevations. let's head east, though, because we have a bit more serious conditions here across the southeast you're going to be seeing intense thunderstorms overnight and in towards monday. that severe threat will head into alabama. and if we follow this snaking front through the atlantic and up into canada and new england, you're going to be finding strong gusts and heavy rain here today as well. so all the action out east. temperatures are going to be season l. taking a look over to the

southwest, however. we have this heat sitting in southern california. okay. into europe. a large system dominating the northwest. this has been bringing some really strong storms through the british isles. now, this potent front is going to be moving through france and up towards finland today. still wet and breezy across the british isles. then we have a developing system here over the central mediterranean. italy you'll see some intense storms here today as well. elsewhere they're looking dry and fine. nice warm and sunny in the siberian peninsula. loss of temperatures here in the mid to low teens. all right, here's your extended forecast.

our top story this hour, u.s. military personnel in japan are preparing to fly the osprey aircraft south to okinawa for deployment. troops have been test flying the 12 aircraft at the air station in western japan. they will now transport them to okinawa's marine air station. personnel plan to deploy them in october. japanese and u.s. officials agreed on safety measures to reassure locals' concerned with the past history. they will avoid flying over high populated areas. locals in okinawa were out to protest the osprey's deployment. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.